I’m extremely encouraged that the calls for companies to upgrade away from Internet Explorer 6 are intensifying. If you’re reading in the UK, there’s now an online petition to register your feelings on Microsoft’s crippled and ageing browser (it was released in summer 2001 no less). If your outside the UK, sign the Twitter based equivalent.

IE6 is both slow and insecure and if you’re using it as your primary browser, it’s likely your view of the world wide web is extremely limited. The motoring equivalent of driving a 1982 model car when you could have a 2010 model, complete with ABS, traction control, Air Con etc (for free)!

From a designer’s point of view, making a website Internet Explorer 6 compatible currently takes an unacceptable length of  development time. Time that could be spent further improving a site for more mainstream browsers. As such I’ve taken the policy that I won’t be supporting the browser in future development work. I’d encourage other designers to discourage their clients from supporting the browser too. This means we can all look forwards to newer technologies like HTML5, CSS3 and Jquery 1.4 without the headaches of workarounds for Microsoft’s tired old browser.